Conclusion of 1 Samuel 2:22-36: The prophecy of the man of God.

27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? 28 I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your father’s house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites. 29 Why do you <sup class="footnote" value="[a]”>[a] scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’ 30 “Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and your father’s house would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. 31 The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line 32 and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. 33 Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life. 34 ” ‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. 35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always. 36Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a crust of bread and plead, “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.” ‘

How favored was the house of Aaron?The Lord told him that forever he would walk before the Lord as his chosen representative to all Israel.The Lord told him that he would have the blessing of representing the nation before the Lord and walk continually in His presence. The Lord promised to give him the portions of all the meat offerings and permit him to burn incense before the Lord continually. How Eli’s house is kicking at, dishonoring, insulting, and making light of the sacrafices of the most High, and treating his priviledge of standing in God’s presnece with contempt and without honoring Him. Eli is permitting a loose and casual attitude, one of apathy, to seep into the liturgy of the temple. Now, since this is happening, the Lord is about to take away the priesthood from Eli’s house and give it to one who will do all that is in the Lord’s heart, and mind. And we read in a couple of places in 1 Samuel (2:18, 3:1), that Samuel has properly walked out his life in preparation for this destiny of walking into the priesthood, since he honors the presence of the Lord, while Eli does not.

Moreover, it takes an itinerant man of God, a prophet, to speak this prophecy at random.

And then, in stark contrast to Hophni and Phneas, Samuel ministers to the Lord and before the Lord and cares only for the glory of God and not whether ro not his basic needs will be met.

Also, at this point, I would say that Hophni, Phineas, and Eli, because of the state of their hearts, were way beyond the point of repentance and persuading God to move in mercy and forgiveness. The next calling, that of Samuel, was already set into place, due to their hardness of heart.

The question is, do we spend our time in the days of small beginnings despising those beginnings, growing hard, offended and bitter, or embracing them and walking in them to prepare us for the fullness of God’s destiny for us. Samuel’s understanding of the holiness of the Lord, enabled him to walk blamelessly and into greater things.

Moreover, Samuel, because he did “according to what [was in the Lord’s] heart and mind,” and was without corruption, he would be blessed by the Lord. He did all that the Lord asked of him, and walked in nearly as Scripture can record, without fault and blame before the Lord, and was blessed. So much so, that the nation of Israel would tremble at his coming, and the house of Eli would be at Samuel’s mercy.

When we walk in the fear of the Lord and blamelessly before hin, with no though or care towards the opinions of man, then we will be a force to be reckoned with, and not because we have any power, might, or strength in our hands (Zechariah 4:6). If we strive to do all that is in His heart and mind and to know all that is on his heart amd mind, and operate and obey according to all that is in his heart and mind, then we will have the authority to carry that understanding and message to the nations of the world, as did Jeremiah did, to set up kings and tear them down. But only if we know His purpose and plans, and only if we humble ourselves to walk according to all He has given us, in His word.

And with the exception of the affair with Uriah the Hittite, both Samuel and David walked in this authority and we hated by the establishment and status quo.

One other things that I got from the desk of Jon Greene, that I found fascinating, and makes sense, in the line of prophetic writings.

The passage is also a prophecy about the rise of the priesthood of the order of Melchizedek. In the immediate future, ministry to the Lord would be undertaken by the “sons of Zadok,” or “sons of righteousness.” Of course, the order of Mel…chizedek (king of righteousness) is the order by which Christ entered into legitimate priesthood and remains to this day the high priest, and we have legitimate claim to be “Sons of Zadok” to this day. Also of interest is that Melchizedek was King of Salem (Peace). So, you have the prince/king of peace ministering to Abram of the BREAD and WINE and receiving tithes from him of the spoils. Ha ha. It’s just epic symbolism.